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I'd like to talk a bit about accessibility. Ease of access, if you will. With respect to my own work. But I intend to do so using religious analogies. 'Cause I tend to talk (in this case, type) in analogies. There are about thirty-eight thousand Christian denominations in the world, each with its own socio-cultural interpretation and application of the same basic text and history. They run a full range of agreement and disagreement with one another, regarding these interpretations, what is Truth and what is simply tradition. All of these traditions have generated millions of pages of text: interpretations, companions, commentaries, explanations, rebuttals... all expanding or expounding that single text. The same object from a thousand perspectives. Outside of these traditions are still more perspectives, opinions, ideas relating to the same original source: another n-million pages of ideas, opinions, attacks, assent, confirmations, denials, support, subversion and so forth from individuals and institutions outside of Christianity. All that is to say, you know, it can get pretty freaking complicated. I have personally been known to go over a single passage in five or six different versions or translations (including Young's Literal Translation as my aspirational stand-in for a knowledge of Greek or Hebrew), side-by-side with commentaries, concordances, footnotes, cross-references, lists of apparent contradictions, secular works both attacking and supporting its veracity... all in an attempt to reach a reasonable conclusion that I apply towards greater understanding. It's an awful lot of work. It can be quite rewarding, but also exhausting and disheartening.
So it's interesting (one might go so far as to say foundationally important) that the core statements of Christianity's title character tend to be remarkably straightforward, simple to understand (if not easy to apply). “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind... and love your neighbor as yourself.” As an example. It's a command that makes immediate and apparent sense on the surface, but it's also rewarded by a lifetime of careful study, analysis and practical application. It's also the sort of concept that is rarely challenged by any of the 38,000 denominations mentioned above, or by any of the allies, attackers or neutral bystanders. It's also the sort of concept which, according to the scripture, was successfully introduced to soldiers, seamen, aristocrats, outcasts, prostitutes, politicians, blue-collar workers, theologians, physicians, philosophers, and so on and so forth. The message does not discriminate on the background of the recipient.
So, to derail this particular train of thought and attempt to channel the resulting wreck in a new direction... this “easy to learn, hard to master” approach is what I'm aiming for when I make my own work. This accessibility. Representational figurative imagery is perhaps the most universally approachable form of art. It's something that most anyone can feel that they 'get' and form an opinion about. It's also got a remarkably deep and broad history as painful as often as it's pleasant and, done correctly, can hold up to academic, aesthetic and cultural scrutiny. Accessibility applies to the whole spectrum. Thomas Kinkade's pastoral paintings are as exclusive as Rauschenberg's installations of apparent and actual trash... each side has somebody looking at it and saying, basically, “I just... don't get it!” In between is the work with which (most) everyone can interact and form an understanding. They may not particularly enjoy it, per se, but they won't be put off by the basic premise. This may be personal, but I enjoy and appreciate a significant chunk of modern and contemporary work because of my education about it. To an extent, I undertood it before I saw it, and that allowed me to appreciate it, and the appreciation allowed me to enjoy it. To be all idealistic, I'd like to aim for an enjoyment that prompts an appreciation that results in understanding that inspires further education.
Basically.
So it's interesting (one might go so far as to say foundationally important) that the core statements of Christianity's title character tend to be remarkably straightforward, simple to understand (if not easy to apply). “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind... and love your neighbor as yourself.” As an example. It's a command that makes immediate and apparent sense on the surface, but it's also rewarded by a lifetime of careful study, analysis and practical application. It's also the sort of concept that is rarely challenged by any of the 38,000 denominations mentioned above, or by any of the allies, attackers or neutral bystanders. It's also the sort of concept which, according to the scripture, was successfully introduced to soldiers, seamen, aristocrats, outcasts, prostitutes, politicians, blue-collar workers, theologians, physicians, philosophers, and so on and so forth. The message does not discriminate on the background of the recipient.
So, to derail this particular train of thought and attempt to channel the resulting wreck in a new direction... this “easy to learn, hard to master” approach is what I'm aiming for when I make my own work. This accessibility. Representational figurative imagery is perhaps the most universally approachable form of art. It's something that most anyone can feel that they 'get' and form an opinion about. It's also got a remarkably deep and broad history as painful as often as it's pleasant and, done correctly, can hold up to academic, aesthetic and cultural scrutiny. Accessibility applies to the whole spectrum. Thomas Kinkade's pastoral paintings are as exclusive as Rauschenberg's installations of apparent and actual trash... each side has somebody looking at it and saying, basically, “I just... don't get it!” In between is the work with which (most) everyone can interact and form an understanding. They may not particularly enjoy it, per se, but they won't be put off by the basic premise. This may be personal, but I enjoy and appreciate a significant chunk of modern and contemporary work because of my education about it. To an extent, I undertood it before I saw it, and that allowed me to appreciate it, and the appreciation allowed me to enjoy it. To be all idealistic, I'd like to aim for an enjoyment that prompts an appreciation that results in understanding that inspires further education.
Basically.
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